Newsletter Article
Probate Update – How long does Probate take?
The timeframe for a probate case to be completed very much depends on the backlog in the Probate Office. Probate is the process of dealing with a deceased’s estate from the date of death to the date that estate can be distributed to their beneficiaries.
At present, the entire probate process takes approximately 6-9 months.
The probate process involves three stages:
- Information gathering on the deceased, the estate and the beneficiaries,
- Drafting and lodging an application for probate in the Probate Office, and,
- After the Grant of Probate issues, gathering in the estate and paying all debts and giving all beneficiaries their shares.
At the moment, from the date an application is lodged in the Probate Office, stage 2 of the process above, there is a backlog of 10-12 weeks. This means that the papers are lodged and the Grant will only issue after 10-12 weeks. During this time nothing can be done to advance the probate file and there are no exceptions to this backlog. For example, even if the house of a deceased is being sold, the Probate Office will not expedite the application.
The backlog of 10-12 weeks can double if your application papers are incorrect. This is due to the Probate Office rule that dictates that once a query is raised on the application – the application is placed at the back of the queue after the query is dealt with. It is vital that applications are prepared correctly to avoid queries arising. This is best done by a specialist probate practitioner to avoid delays.
The better your application the shorter your wait time!